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Former Whitley workers will get help in transition

INDIANAPOLIS - The filing of a WARN notice by Whitley Products may signal the ultimate end of the company but by doing so workers will have at least a little help.
The Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) act was passed in 1988 and part of that law requires that companies that have 100 or more employees file a 60 day notice of any plant closing or mass layoff. The notice is given to employees and filed with the Indiana Department of Work Force Development.
While it does not give employees a legal recourse, it does set several things in motion to give a hand to those who will soon be out of work.
“What the notice does is it allows us to mobilize a rapid response team,” said Joe Frank, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Work Force Development. “We will get a group up there as fast as we can to begin making presentations and talking to workers trying to help them make a transition into other employment.”
The DWD will have resources to help workers with the next step.
“There are different kinds of services and programs that they are going to be eligible for,” said Frank. “We’ll get involved and try to help everybody figure out just what programs apply to them.”
Frank did have some immediate advice.
“The best thing that workers can do is get into the local WorkOne office as quickly as they can and start the process.”
The entire notice can be viewed at http://www.in.gov/dwd/2567.htm